Tourists prefer Jerusalem to London and Paris

Tourists just love Jerusalem, making the Holy City one of their most preferred destinations, according to Travel + Leisure magazine.

In an annual poll of its online readers, the capital was ranked the 17th best tourist destination in the world, thus surpassing London, Paris, and Barcelona, three popular hubs which did not crack the top 20.

Readers ranked the Indian city of Udaipur as the most tourist-friendly destination. Nicknamed "the Venice of the East" due to its canals and palaces, Udaipur unseated Bangkok as the top tourist city. The Thai capital finished third in the readers' ranking.

The second best tourist city chosen was Cape Town, South Africa.

Travel + Leisure readers also voted Bali as the best island in the world; Singapore Airlines was voted the best airline, the second year in a row it has won the honor; and Sixt was chosen as the best car rental agency.

Despite Jerusalem's popularity, Tel Aviv did not make the top 20 list, though it did rank seventh among cities in the Middle East and Africa. Jerusalem is third on this list behind Cape Town and Fez, Morocco.